What is an omnibus? In DC parlance, it seems to be a hardcover volume (initially) that collects the amount of material you'd usually find in at least two trades. The first Flash omnibus contains the Wonderland and Blood Will Run trades; the first New Teen Titans omnibus contains issues #1-16 from the first two New Teen Titans Archives.

Where did this Omnibus format come from? By my estimation, it started with the Starman Omnibus editions and with the Jack Kirby Fourth World Omnibus editions. There have been other books of similar ilk not specifically called omnibuses, like the JLA Deluxe books and the Gotham Central and Seven Soldiers hardcovers that collected two or more of the previous trade paperbacks. These were it in terms of omnibuses for a little while; in a short amount of time, however, we've seen an increasing number of omnibuses, including the classic Green Lantern omnibuses, and now these.

Why Omnibuses? They are not cheap, to be sure; the Hawkman volume is $50 before discounts, but the New Titans and Flash books are both $75. They do however in large part collect out-of-print material, consolidating DC's expansive collections line into fewer volumes.

Also -- furthering my theory that trade paperbacks are the new single issues -- I believe there's a growing sense when we see two volumes of Superman: The Black Ring or Superman: Grounded that a trade paperback is no longer the "whole story" like it once was, and the omnibuses offer additional completion for someone willing to forgo the immediate trades for the later omnibuses (or, I imagine DC hopes, someone willing to buy both).

The next biggest news here, though not perhaps much of a surprise, is that Batman Inc. will be collected first in the deluxe oversized format. As Grant Morrison's recent other Batman books -- Batman RIP and the Batman and Robin volumes -- were also deluxe, this only stands to reason, though I wish all the books might've had a common trade dress.

It's also not a great surprise that the ongoing Reign of the Doomsday crossover is getting a collection, but it will be interesting to see how this fits in trade-continuity-wise, given that it includes issues from Superboy, Supergirl, Outsiders, and Justice League.

Flashpoint, did you say? The crossover that will inevitably overwhelm DC's trade program not too long from now gets the titular role in the next (and last, if DC's hype machine is to be believed) Flash collection.

I believe this is just the next Keith Giffen Booster Gold volume, tying in to Justice League: Generation Lost, and not yet the Booster Gold/Flashpoint tie in -- but I mention it just because I like the title a lot.

An interesting item here at 272 pages; I wonder if this is a paperback of the recent DC Comics Library hardcover, which collected both Robin Jason Todd's demise in A Death in the Family and Tim Drake's arrival in A Lonely Place of Dying. That "DC Comics Library" imprint seems to have died a quick death, however, and I think we'll know for sure if the paperback doesn't carry that label.

The six-book No Man's Land is a favorite among Batman fans, and some of the volumes out of print. At $30 and 544 pages, my guess is that this paperback contains one or two of the No Man's Land books -- what'd be even better is if this series collects some of the No Man's Land stories that never saw collections (like stories that introduced the DC Universe Harley Quinn). I'd have preferred this in hardcover (Omnibus much?) but something is better than nothing.

Another artist-focused Batman collection, like similar books featuring the artwork of Gene Colan and Tim Sale. Curious that this one is called Legends of the Dark Knight and not Tales of the Batman like those are.

The new deluxe Great Darkness Saga was such a good-looking volume when it appeared on store shelves and then sold out during the holidays, that I finally picked one up for myself just a few weeks ago. I was quite excited to see DC solicit a sequel some time ago, and I re-mention it here only to note that this is indeed a collection of the early Paul Levitz stories that came after Great Darkness (as confirmed by recent DC solicitations) and not a part of the new series (though there's that, too -- see below). I hope DC continues to produce these -- deluxe oversized "omnibus-length" editions of DC's relevant classic material is OK with me!

Speaking of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, here's a collection of their 1982 supernatural series. DC just published a DC Comics Presents edition of issues #1-4; I'd hope at $40, this hardcover collects the entire series.

Here's Lee Bermejo's new original graphic novel, becoming a DC Comics holiday tradition after Joker and Luthor. The next Superman Earth One isn't solicited yet, nor J. Michael Straczynski's Samaritan X, but DC publisher Dan DiDio has suggested the end of the year is when we'll see a spate of DC graphic novels.

Brightest Day concludes in 2011, and even starts again in paperback the same year -- you can all check my math, but I think this is a "getting better" release schedule on DC's part. It does seem like we won't see Flashpoint collections until 2012, however.

At about twelve issues each, and especially with all of Grounded's bad publicity, I really would've liked to see DC publish both of these as respective individual volumes, instead of unnecessarily stretching them out into two short hardcovers. We know DC can do twelve-issue hardcovers, i.e. Brightest Day -- not doing so just seems like profiteering to me.

Even if this is the title of the new Nick Spencer/James Peaty storyline, it has weird "dead women" connotations of the kind I thought DC was trying to make a concerted effort to avoid these days. Will anyone ever want to say "my favorite Supergirl trade is Good Looking Corpse"? I think this one needs a re-do.

With the Absolute edition and such, this didn't especially jump out at me, but it would seem a bunch of readers have been waiting to read All Star Superman in single-volume paperback form (and indeed I approve DC bringing these issues together in one volume, not two). I'd have thought this would be better released when the movie came out, but maybe DC was trying to push the Absolute at that time.

Also can't believe I left off the next Bryan Miller Batgirl collection. I really liked the first volume and I'm looking forward to the second, and I'm thrilled at all the acclaim Miller has received for the most unlikely of books, one starring the erstwhile Spoiler Stephanie Brown.

There is more to say, especially on certain Omnibus editions, and look for that coming in a few days. I'll pause here, though, and ask: Omnibuses, love 'em or hate em? What else is on your to-buy list?

16 issues still feels like I'm being cheated. Isn't the point of Omnibus format to have less trades? Shouldn't they be overwhelming us with these giant books instead of a bunch of volumes? Otherwise they could just make more Deluxe Editions and stop charging for nearly Absolute Edition prices.

Geez, where to start? I like the fact that League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is coming back to print in a nice affordable hardcover. The DC/Marvel Crossover Omnibus Vol. 1 is another nice book. I have all the trades but I may have to upgrade.

Wow, some great stuff. DC seems to be stepping in up in the trade dept. Unfortunately I own many of these already and I'm not sure if I'll be making the switch to HC. Except for one, LoEG I'll make the switch though, I love that series.

NML I will wait for release to see if it'll collect material that wasn't in the previous editions. A reprint of Cataclysm would be nice as that is what started the whole event in the first place. Who knows, it could be collected in this new edition; at 544 pages it might. Cataclysm was 320 and the first NML vol. is 200; so who knows we might be fortunate.

I like the omnibus format, those Starman trades are terrific; but I wish DC would also give them the oversize treatment like Marvel does. Their omnibuses are oversized and the art really pops on those. That what I consider and omnibus since I have quite a few of those from Marvel. Pack 'em with issues and super-size it.

I'd really be happy if DC continues keeping them in print after bringing them out. It isn't like I can afford ALL the Omnibuses as they come out. I am especially looking forward to what is in the DC/Marvel crossover....I hope they eventually collects all 4 volumes. Vol 1 & 3 were published by Marvel so are currently OOP, and I hope they get collected. If so I'll junk out these trades of vol 2 & 4 I own. I am not so sure what falls in the realm of these OOP trades but I think both the SUPERMAN/SPIDERMAN, BATMAN/DAREDEVIL, one of the BATMAN SPIDER-MAN & X-MEN/TEEN TITANS.The Marshall Rogers is a nice touch. It will bring back into print STRANGE APPARITIONS, collect SIEGE & re print DARK DETECTIVE. If this goes well, we will get a few OOP trades back in print, at least A LONELY PLACE OF DYING, STRANGE APPARITIONS, DC/MARVEL CLASSICS & maybe NO MAN'S LAND.

I was excited about the Hawkman Omnibus until I realized that it was written by Johns, and thus not a collection of the Silver Age Hawkman. Oh well.

I am very happy to see Kamandi being re-collected in some format, though, since it seems unlikely that DC will ever finish out the Archives volumes for that series.

I actually just started reading the first DC/Marvel crossover trade, so I find it interesting that DC is bringing back this material. Hopefully they will include the introductions and other bonus material done for the original trades.

The 1st & 3rd trade bear the MARVEL/DC CROSSOVER CLASSICS indicia. If this is coming in complete forms, I expect to see the Marvel comics collections of AMALGAM AGE OF COMICS & RETURN TO THE AMALGAM AGE OF COMICS. Who knows...maybe we'll eventually see the ACCESS storylines like ALL ACCESS which were never collected

Like the first Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Omnibus, this Hawkman Omnibus is listed as 320 pages long, which means it will only cover the first half of Johns' run. Volume 2 will probably be a bit thicker, since it will have to include JSA #56-58 in order to cover the entire Black Reign crossover.

This new edition of No Man's Land is way overdue and, judging by the page count, each volume will be equivalent to 2 and a half original trades. That means there will be only two volumes, unless they include previously uncollected stories.

Frankly, the only NML chapters I really missed in the TPBs are the one-shot featuring Harley Quinn's origin and that two-part arc where the Joker tries to become the mayor of Gotham while Harley tries to manipulate him by following a seduction manual. In fact, I could have done without some of the stuff they collected, like that Mr. Freeze story by Larry Hama.

I think it's less "trades are the new single issues" and more DC not breaking a fair amount of ongoings strictly down into neat arcs anymore. A few of the ones mentioned are long, long storylines that just don't break down into neat six issue arcs, which used to be the norm for everything. Twelve issue trades have never really been the norm for year long storylines anyways; for example, they may be one volume editions now, but Hush and Under the Hood were both two volume stories for the longest time.

On the other hand, I've never seen Watchmen, Camelot 3000, or COIE collected as volumes 1 and 2, only as the complete series under one cover. It was only 15 years or so ago that "6 issues = arc = trade" became the norm.

Something you didn't mention is that All Star Superman is finally being collected in the single volume regular-sized trade paperback it deserves. This is exactly what I'd been hoping for- thanks for taking care of Christmas gifts for me this year DC.

Cutter was great. So sad. Also leaves me no hope for the missing Question sections

Besides isn't All Star expensive than the 2 trades put together coming to 25.98 US$....I see the same for Under the Red Hood (25 US$). Hush was almost evenly done (12.99 US$ each, 25 US$ collection) while OUR WORLDS AT WAR leans towards the other side too much (19.99 US$ each, 24.95 US$ collection) but as CE pointed out maybe because of the paper quality, though I suppose both the initial volumes had the same paper quality as is in the current edition.

I have added in the All Star Superman paperback (silly me, but I didn't think it'd be as notable as it was!) and also Batgirl: The Lesson, as this is another series (like the deluxe Legion books) that I want to encourage everyone to support.

I hate to say this as I am a DC guy, but Marvel's trade program is just better, especially when it comes to the deluxe and omnibus formats. Their omnibi in particular are so much larger both in dimension and number of issues collected, yet the price doesn't seem to be that much different (at least after Amazon's discount).

On top of that, it seems like they are just collecting in "omnibus" format everything that Geoff Johns has done! Of course Marvel collects Bendis' work in that format too, but also that of Brubaker, Waid, Aaron, and others. Of course, Marvel sadly just has a deeper bench when it comes to writers nowadays, anyway. Alright, I'll stop before it gets too depressing (too late?).

Yes, the Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka would be great, I wanted to read the full run but some of the trades are out of print. Hopefully the wonder woman tv series and having Veronica Cale has the main antagonist might motivate the release of an omnibus.

Y'know, I was going to say to Aalok that I was very skeptical that DC would release a Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Omnibus, since they've gone in another direction with Wonder Woman since then -- but the fact that Veronica Cale is the villain in the new Wonder Woman series is a very persuasive argument toward a re-release of those stories. I've moved it to the "maybe" column.

@ Anonymous:Tell me about it. I had been prolonging picking up DOWN TO EARTH when I see that it's gone, BITTER RIVALS is so far gone. I rushed to the store & managed to track copies down. I got & read them all in one sitting, and it doesn't read like it was written for trade.One more thing I'm curious about is how come REIGN OF DOOMSDAY is a paperback? By all means it should contain ACTION 900 & the Cornell stories have been done in HC right?

And yes....a few other series seem to be disappearing from the shelves too so I think we may eventually see some sort of huge format on them:GREEN ARROW by KEVIN SMITHGREEN ARROW by JUDD WINICKSTORMWATCH/AUTHORITY by WARREN ELLISBOOKS OF MAGIC by variousSANDMAN PRESENTS by various100 BULLETS by AZZARELLO & RISSOLUCIFER by CAREY & GROSSTRANSMETROPOLITAN by ELLIS & ROBERTSONAMERICAN VIRGIN by SEAGLE & CLOONAN

Personally, GREEN LANTERN is something I'd like to read in Omnibus format. But when they charge 75$ each I feel I'm either paying the same or better off getting the individual hardcovers at 20/25$ a pop

I remain curious to see if DC might ever reprint Byrne's Superman so far as to include the issue where Superman killed the Phantom Zone criminals. It may not be DC's proudest moment, but it's a notable issue, to be sure.

@CE: That wasn't too far, it was issue 22 & DC has gone till ish 12 in their MAN OF STEEL series, though it took them 5 volumes to do so (of SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOLS 1-6, the 1st collected the 6 issue mini while 2-6 collected 12 issues each of SUPERMAN, ACTION & ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, the annuals of each during the 1st year & ancillary related issues from THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES & BOOSTER GOLD). So, theoretically that point would be 3-4 more trades in assuming they also keep on collecting the Wolfman/Ordway issues which IMHO were a better read & my prime reason to buy the trades. The total era from 1988 to 1991 was a golden period of classic stories from Byrne, Wolfman, Ordway & Stern.

If the 1st NML trade does contain CATACLYSM & NML V1, I'm all for a huge paperback/hardback collecting CONTAGION, LEGACY & BANE OF THE DEMON.

What's more, there is also a 40$ hardback showing up called TALES OF THE BATMAN: DON NEWTON. Ahh....this brings back memories of ye olde days when Doug Moench & Don Newton did the best single/two issue stories, one of which called WHAT PRICE, THE PRIZE? was my introduction to Batman way back in the early 90s (publication date of said comic should be 1982-84, but in India, I'll take what I get)

>> Batman: The Black MirrorCollecting the Scott Snyder/Jock storyline that's getting considerable acclaim right now. Here's hoping this is just one volume, not two (per Superman's Black Ring and Grounded)

****

I don't know if you read comments to older posts, but it seams like you could be getting your wish fulfilled! Amazon.com changed the details to the Black Mirror HC. Originally it was announced to be released September 13th, containing 168 pages for a price of $22.99. Now the date is changed to November 29th, the page count upped to 288 pages and the price is now $29.99!This could mean, that the entire 'TEC run of Snyder is collected in one volume. It would certainly fit, as Augusts #881 will be his final issue. :)

'Course I read comments to older posts, Spooky -- I read 'em all! :) Glad to hear about this update to Black Mirror, not unlike the late addition of the Green Arrow and Adventure Comics issues to one of the Blackest Night volumes.

What was so important about that Mr. Freeze story by Larry Hama, Anonymous? I know it shows what happened to the character after that great done-in-one tale by Kelley Puckett and Jon Bogdanove, but other than that, I found it perfectly skippable.

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